


Prepared

by SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher (UglyJackal)



Category: Star Stable
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 18:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10972653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UglyJackal/pseuds/SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher
Summary: Jack gets a new horse and a new jumper





	Prepared

It was a cold and bleary morning. And on such days, Jack could usually be found under a tree in the comforting dampness of the Mirror Marshes in Epona. Dale grazed nearby, the tack on the grass next to Jack's backpack. Jack himself was surrounded by animals: a frog sat on his knee; a brightly coloured bird on his shoulder; a fox that he had befriended from Hollow Woods curled up at his side with her chin on his thigh, and a small wetland deer snuffled at his shoes. Jack was quite content to just sit there all day, petting the snoozing fox and talking to the kingdom that understood him the best.

But it was not to be: his phone let off a piercing ping with an email.

With great haste, the deer skittered away, the frog launched from the man's knee into the marsh, and the bird flew back into the sky in a flutter of feathers. Only the fox stayed behind, used to such sounds after shadowing the man for the past few weeks. Although the sensitive black ears did pin back on protest of the sound. Dale also looked over and snorted at the interruption of peace.

'Why don't you turn that ruddy thing off?' he nickered, crossly.

Jack rolled his eyes. 'Stop nagging me, Dale,' he groused, 'who knows when one of the useless inhabitants of Jorvik will-' he cut himself off abruptly as he saw the notification.

The Lipizzaner cocked his head like a puppy. 'Something wrong?'

Jack swallowed and pursed his lips. 'My parents...' he said, 'they... they transferred some money to my account.'

Dale said nothing.

Jack and his parents were not on the best terms, after Jack had told them that he was actually a boy instead of their precious daughter, things had gone a little haywire. There were a lot of rows and tension about his name and pronouns and how his parents knew him better than he did himself and how it was just a phase and how he was constantly dead-named and referred to by the wrong pronouns, and it was very nearly the end of him.

He sent back a very short 'Thank you' and deleted the email. He quickly checked to see that the money had indeed gone into his account, and when he found that it had, he sent a text to Z, telling her to meet him in New Hillcrest square by the horses.

* * *

  
'Ydris says hi, by the way,' Zelda said upon trotting Phantom towards her friend. 'I went by the highland and he saw me and called me over.'

'We're like Jorvik's double act or something; everyone always seem to know that if they see one of us, the other can't be far behind' Jack said, amused, 'we're like bread and butter: can't have one without the other.'

'I mean, you could, but the bread would be bland, and the butter would just be unpleasant,' Z replied.

'I resent being likened to butter,' the man said, chuckling.

Zelda shrugged, a smirk on her face. 'So how much money did your parents give you?' she asked.

'Enough for two horses, I think,' he replied, a grin spreading across his face like ice over a lake.

'Is that why we're standing next to Jewel's twin brother?' Zelda asked, looking at the handsome bay Lipizzaner gelding, who seemed to be preening in the presence of the two riders.

It looked as though something had just dawned on Jack, and tears glittered in his eyes. 'I can... finally... after so long of pining for him... I can afford him,' he said, a little stunned.

Zelda laughed, clapping her hands with glee. 'I guess you weren't PREPARED for that!' she cried, laughing hysterically at her own pun.

Jack groaned. 'I wondered when that would crop up,' he sighed.

Zelda was still laughing as her friend swapped the money for the gelding, now christened "Lioncrush" or just simply "Scar". He watched the stable owner gently lead the gelding into a trailer, making sure everything was right before the ramp was lifted. As the trailer trundled away, Zelda gasped.

Jack turned, concerned that something was wrong. 'What is it?'

'You can afford that jumper that you wanted the other week, right?' she said.

Jack blinked. And then turned Dale around and galloped at a dangerously high speed towards the trailer to get to Jarlaheim.

* * *

 

When Zelda finally caught up to her friend, he was pulling on the new grey jumper behind some barrels. It had a picture of Concorde on it, one of the promo images from days of old when Anne and Concorde were an inseparable team in the dressage world. Zelda cooed. 'It's so cute, oh my God!' she cried.

Jack grinned. 'It is,' he said, 'and when the autumn comes around, it'll keep me nice and toasty.'

'Are you gonna get the rest of them that are scattered around Jorvik?' Zelda asked.

'Of course I am.'

* * *

 

After that, Zelda accompanied her friend into his stable to see the new addition to the Wolfwatcher family.

Scar tossed his head as the final strap was fastened on his saddle, a hoof stomping on the ground. The one tack set that Jack owned had been cleaned thoroughly of sweat and left to dry while Zelda cuddled Jack's fluffy Icelandic horses.

Jack had let Scar get used to him before tacking up or mounting. The bay gelding seemed to like the man, which was a good thing as Jack had heard that the horse could be very temperamental. He now swung up gently onto the beautiful animal and sat still for a moment, letting him get used to the weight.

Scar snorted and did that funny little hop that only the Lipizzaners seemed to do. He seemed to roll his shoulders as he shuffled his hooves. He soon settled however, after a few tense moments where Jack thought he was going to be thrown, and the rider tapped his heels on Scar's sides, urging him into a gentle, plodding walk.

Zelda looked over and made a funny little squeak of delight at the sight of Jack riding the Lipizzaner. 'Oh, Jack, he looks brilliant!' she cried, walking over slowly. She held out her hand to the gelding's muzzle, letting him inspect her and get used to her if his own accord. 'Hi there, Scar,' she said quietly, 'you'll be seeing a lot of me while you're with Jack. We're like bread and butter, see: you can't have one without the other.'

Jack chuckled and patted Scar's neck. 'If you hop onto Apollo, did you want to start training?' he said, 'in looking forward to seeing what this boy can do.'

Zelda grinned and the pair exited the stable. Phantom was waiting outside and Z swung up onto him. The pair of them then raced to Moorland, Scar revelling in the competition.


End file.
